


Monochrome Ward

by CryBabyPorcelain



Series: FFXV Halloween Event 2017 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Named Velox for this fic, Versus Prompto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-21 00:35:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13729380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CryBabyPorcelain/pseuds/CryBabyPorcelain
Summary: My first entry for the 2017 Halloween Event, based on Yugami-P's Monochrome Ward.





	Monochrome Ward

The two scientists had assumed that both boys were still asleep. He’d learned pretty quickly to be damn good at pretending.

He could hear his little brother, in his own bed just shy of three feet away, breathing deeply, unaware of the chatter around them. That was for the best.

“Unit NH-01987 0006-0204 is developing almost as he should be. His readings fall a little short of the other subjects, but I’m confident he’ll be able to catch up.” The scientist’s tone was flat, monotonous. He, like the rest of them, held no care for the well-being of the children he called his  _‘Units.’_ No, they were only kept alive by the prospect of their use in the future. “Unfortunately,” he continued, “Unit NH-01987 0006-0203 has fallen so far behind, I don’t think there’s much hope for him. He may have to be destroyed.”

At those words, the boy in his bed, barely aged 13, pretending to sleep, felt his blood turn to ice in his veins.

They were going to kill him. Due to a handful of failed cognitive tests, the scientists that had raised them from infancy were going to put him to death.

No, he wasn’t going to let that happen.

The scientists left the room, one muttering under his breath about the wasted resources that had been poured into the boy who had fallen behind.

Once he was sure they had gone, he opened his eyes, blinking against the harsh light of the white room, and slipped out of his bed. He placed his hands on his brother’s sleeping form, shaking him gently.

The other groaned, pushing himself up with one hand and rubbing at his puffy eyes with the other.

“We have to go,” the elder whispered with a force one would would typically put behind a shout. “ _Now,_  Prompto!”

The younger boy, Prompto, at the urging of his brother, threw his legs over the side of the bed and eased his feet into the simple, white daps by the side of his bed.

Velox, the older brother, had rushed over to the door, where he’d pressed his ear close to the crack, listening for any footsteps. The coast seemed to be clear, the scientists seeming to have moved onto the younger test subjects. He stretched his arm back, extending his hand for his brother to take.

“Vel, what’s going on?” Prompto took hold of Velox’s hand, allowing himself to be yanked through the door and down the sterile, white hallway.

He got no answer, left to struggle along behind as Velox lead the way.

The more corners they turned, the more Velox’s heart leapt into his throat. He didn’t know when the alarms started blaring, but he did know the scientists had revisited their room and found their beds empty. He swore under his breath, pulling Prompto down another corridor.

He collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily. He cursed under his breath, sliding down the wall and resting his forehead on his knees.

“Velox?” Prompto knelt down next to him. “What’s going on?” he asked again.

Velox looked up at his brother, who was staring at him with knitted brows. He sighed. “We have to run, Prompto. I heard them say they’re gonna kill us.”

“No,” Prompto shook his head, “They wouldn’t.”

“ _I heard them, Prompto!”_ Velox got back to his feet, looking down the narrow hallway. “Where the hell is the exit?!”

Prompto fell silent, face devoid of emotion as his brother’s words processed. While it was true the scientists rarely showed them true care outside of what was needed to keep them healthy, would they truly want to kill them? Why? It made no sense.

The exit? Where was…?

“Here.”

Velox, who’d been wandering down the halls, turned at the sound of his brother’s voice, monotone, like he’d never heard before.

He turned his attention to the door Prompto was pointing at, and his heart stopped.

Before him was a black door, bolted, with a plaque which said, in red cursive,  _Incinerator._

Velox’s chest tightened, he could feel his hands begin to shake, his vision blurring. “We have to go.” he whispered, grabbing hold of Prompto’s wrist and starting to run off in a different direction.

But Prompto’s arm simply slipped from his grasp. His brother was staring at him with that same blank expression, not moving. Slowly, he drew his hand up to his chest, tilting his head to the side. “Where are you going, Velox?”

Velox didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t leave his brother behind, he was all he had left, but he could hear the scientists’ footsteps getting closer and he wasn’t about to let them kill him. Not like this!

With a curse, he took off down the hall, not looking back. He could hear footsteps, but he wasn’t sure if they were Prompto’s or a scientists and like  _hell_  was he stopping to find out! He kept running, fists clenched, chest burning. His stomach felt like it was collapsing in on itself, he wanted to throw up, he wanted to  _give_  up. He felt wrong in every way, but still, he kept running.

He turned corner after corner, down blinding white corridors, past black painted doors, searching for any sign of an exit he could find. He didn’t know if it was the footsteps of the scientists or his own accelerated heartbeat ringing in his ears, but the sound did nothing except heighten his anxiety.

The alarms had woken the other residents, their open palms banging loudly on the glass of their doors as they watched Velox sprint past. They screamed at him, their words becoming an overwhelming roar that echoed through Velox like thunderstorm.

He turned another corner, skidding to a halt when he saw him. Prompto, standing in the spot Velox had left him. “Prompto,” he panted, leaning over himself, his hands on his knees. “What are you still doing here?”

Prompto swung back on his heels, frowning at his brother. “We need to go back to bed, Velox.” he muttered. “We can’t leave here. Where would we go? The gravel is too noisy, they’d hear us, anyway.”

Velox surged forward, grabbing his younger brother by the shoulders. “Listen to me! If we stay here, we’ll die! The moment we stop performing well in those damn tests, that’s it!” he hissed.

With a subtle shake of his head, Prompto laid his hands on Velox’s wrists. “We’ll be okay.” he whispered. “We can do the tests, no problem!”

Footsteps could be heard, fast approaching from the opposite end of the corridor.

“Prompto,” Velox sighed. He could see, just behind his brother, the group of scientists catching up. He was about to be caught. Even if he could keep up with the tests, they’d never forgive him for his attempted escape. “I’m so sorry.”

Before Prompto could react, Velox shoved him into the group of scientists. “Let go of me,  _Velox!_ ” he yelled, glaring down at the boy who lay struggling in the arms of the scientists.

It hurt.

The look of betrayal in his brother’s eyes as he was dragged away, kicking and screaming, tore through Velox like a serrated blade. He felt almost every emotion at once, wondering how he could have possibly done this to his sweet little brother, all the while, to his shame, feeling relief flood his body at the thought that, even if all he did was buy himself a little more time, he was still alive.

He was frozen, staring deadly ahead as he watched two scientist pull his brother around the corner. A hand landed on his shoulder, but he paid it no mind, his consciousness beginning to shut down. “You did the right thing, Prompto.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm importing my entries from the 2017 Halloween event from Tumblr.  
> Find my FFXV blog at chocobabyporcelain.tumblr.com


End file.
